We attempt to bust some myths and offer some hints on how to save petrol.

Fuel saving tricks: Fact or fiction?

Whether you're trying to be more frugal in all aspects of your life or just want to cut down on your monthly fuel costs, it's always good to know how to save a little fuel here and there. Some of these tricks are complete fiction while others can actually help you save money and fuel. In fact, in some instances these "helpful tricks" can actually have a counter effect and you'll use more fuel in the long run.

Having your car in neutral while coasting does absolutely nothing to make your tank last longer. If you're popping the gearbox in neutral to cruise down a hill, your car knows what you're up to and - in modern cars at least - it makes no difference. Thanks to fuel injection technology, when your car is coasting it will stop injecting fuel no matter what gear you're in. Now, this one is pretty common for younger drivers to believe who want to save a bit of cash but it definitely won't save you petrol and it's probably not the smartest idea either as you reduce the impact of the engine's natural compression braking and could potentially creep over the speed limit. A speeding fine is certainly going to cost you more than any fuel saving measure.

Smaller car means less fuel consumption, doesn't it? Turns out that's not always the case. While it might have been true a few decades ago when there was a disparity between traditional large cars - or gas guzzlers - and city runabouts, but with the major advances with engine technology, low resistance tyres, more efficient transmissions, aerodynamics and basically everything else that goes into a car it's not necessarily the dimensions of a car that impacts its fuel consumption. So don't rush out and buy a small car just because you think it's going to save you cash on fuel, you actually might be surprised what type of cars are the most efficient.

Tail gating saves fuel. This one is just plain silly, even if it technically does actually save you petrol, albeit a minuscule amount. Have you ever seen someone driving close to a truck in front of them? It's basically the same thing that cyclists do when they are competing in races, whoever is in front takes the brunt of the wind and allows those behind to save energy. Same thing, except really dangerous.

Making your load lighter is an easy way to save you a smidge of fuel. Removing all the excess weight in your car (no, your children are not considered excess) can potentially mean less fuel consumption. It probably won't make that much of a difference taking out the one extra shopping bag but it might help to take off those roof racks you only used once.

Using the air conditioning uses additional fuel. But once again unless you're cranking it full bore for hours on end it's probably not going to make that much of a difference. If, however, you find yourself with the fuel light on and a fair distance from a petrol station, don't turn the air con on full blast unless you enjoy walking with a jerry can in the middle of summer.

The quality of petrol definitely impacts how far the tank will take you. While you might think that skimping out and putting E10 in your car will save you money, you'll probably end up having to fill up far sooner than if you opted for a higher quality fuel. Not only is it a bad idea to put poor quality fuel in your car but it is generally less fuel efficient. Ethanol burns quicker than petrol, so blended fuels like E10 will provide marginally less overall range.

Here's a simple one; Don't speed if you want to save petrol. For most people this one seems a bit obvious but for others they might be completely unaware that excessive speeding, and bursts of acceleration, can make their tank go from full to empty pretty quickly. Of course, even if you aren't trying to save fuel or money, speeding is illegal anyway.

Driving in traffic is more than just a pain, it also uses more petrol. For the really frugal driver, don't drive in peak hour traffic. The constant stopping and starting will chew through fuel faster than you can say hybrid cars are a good idea. Compared to other types of driving, like on freeways, driving in traffic uses significantly more fuel so plan your trip around the best times.

Correct tyre pressures make a huge difference, not just in how the car handles but also how much fuel it consumes. Lower pressures will create more drag, and therefore the engine has to work harder. It's important to regularly check your tyre pressures. If you don't know what the correct pressure is, check the placard that's usually on the inside of the driver's door or the owner's manual.

Keep your car in tip top condition. This isn't just for optimising fuel efficiency but also so your car drives at its best all the time. Keeping it serviced regularly, with fresh oil and spark plugs when necessary and using the recommended fuel will help ensure your car's not only safe to drive but will save you money in the long run.

Do you have any expert fuel saving tips? Tell us in the Comments section below

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Drive Comments

Sidney Mincing | 11 Jun 2017 23:37

I've never been in a state of mind where I HAD to have a new car, instead buying low kilometre models of acknowledged quality make, thus saving thousands of dollars. Having them serviced by quality mechanics, NOT ones tied to the manufacturer of the car, thus saving hundreds more at each service. It's not simply fuel consumption that is to be considered on the financial side of car ownership, in fact, it rates a long way down the list .

yarpos | 12 Jun 2017 10:01

Interesting article , although some of the logic is puzzling
Smaller cars doesnt mean less full consumption , but saving weight may? Realistically smaller cats generally use less gas than big cars, check specs of course.
Use of airconditioning. The other real option is opening the windows, creating drag. Topic has been done to death by various fact/myth checking groups.
Fuel question has nothing to do with quality, its more about using the fuel that is most appropriate in your vehicle and will maximise efficiency. E10 is not lower quality than and of the 98s. Its a quality fuel done to a different spec. Agree that its a waste of time, cheaper and consume more, really about green virtue signalling.
Why the focus on speeding? moderate speeds are more economical. Anyone with trip computer who has been running low on gas and slowed down will see their klms to empty start to rise.
Keeping you car in tip top condition is a trade off, service as needed. Focusing on oil is weird, you really believe your fuel economy varies if your oil is clean or dirty? your engine longevity will vary for sure. Probably the best investment in fuel economy and an easy thing to do is to change your air filter regularly.

FairDinkumMate | 12 Jun 2017 13:37

Ethanol, while higher octane than petrol, generally gets around 70% the efficiency of petrol. This means that E10 (90% petrol with 10% ethanol) will get you about 97% of the distance that 100% petrol would. So if E10 is more than 3% cheaper, you're saving money.
A motoring website should do better than perpetuate myths such as E10 is lower quality fuel. I live in Brazil where most cars sold are Flex fuel, meaning that they can run anything from 100% ethanol to 100% petrol & everywhere in between. Many imported cars here however have engines designed to just run on petrol (like my 3.3 litre V6) & have no problems at all running on Brazilian gasoline, which in reality is E25. No additives, no engine mods, nothing. With the exception of a few very high performance motors, E25 makes no difference to their longevity or performance & neither will E10.

ibast | 12 Jun 2017 22:55

Perhaps the author should have chosen their words a little more careful. Capacity isn't a huge influence on fuel economy these days, because a larger engine isn't as loaded and modern fuel injection can utilise that to save fuel. Weight, however, is a primary driver of fuel economy. And physical size of the car relates to drag, so it is too.
With the roof racks, the drag is a small but significant influencer of fuel economy. More so than the weight of them.
And the air-con conclusion doesn't make sense. An air conditioner would typically pull 3kW, which doesn't seem much, but driving casually you'd typically spend a lot of time in 30-60kW range. This means the air con will be account for 5-10% of your fuel consumption. That's not insignificant.

chris s | 13 Jun 2017 00:50

hers a fact: My 1.8 Kia gets better ks at 100-110 than at 90- seems odd, possibly because of the extra power needed to maintain that speed

ExdoubleU | 13 Jun 2017 03:06

How about some facts behind all of these claims...
The words, probably and generally seem to appear a lot.
Otherwise this is the same dribble that has been published for ever ...